Completed Event: Baseball at #11 Auburn on April 26, 2026 , Loss , 4, to, 14 , (8)
Final
Baseball
4
at #11 Auburn
14
University of Oklahoma Athletics
Photo by: Ty Russell
Sights Set on Baseball
February 13, 2020 | Baseball
A veteran team that returned the majority of its lineup, starting rotation and bullpen, and added a particularly athletic newcomer class, the Oklahoma baseball team carries an impressive resume for the 2020 season:
Lofty credentials come with lofty expectations, but that's not how Sooners coach Skip Johnson approaches this season.
"What we talk about most of all is the process," Johnson said. "You can be extremely good if you live in a process. If you deal in results in what the world sees and measures as results, I think (players) try too hard. This is a game of failure. It's going to be tough for them. Staying pitch-to-pitch and staying in the process, that's what we talk about more than anything because that's going to get them the furthest in their career."
Long respected as one of college baseball's premier pitching coaches, Johnson is in his third season as the Sooners' head coach and his fourth overall, having spent 2017 as pitching coach.
OU's team ERA has dwindled each year under Johnson's guidance. Last season's 3.92 team ERA marked only the seventh time the team ERA was under 4.00 since 1980 and the first time since 2015.
This year figures to be no different with Cavalli (5-3 record; 3.28 ERA; 12 starts) and Prater (7-4; 3.26; 14 starts) already etched in stone as the Friday and Saturday starters, respectively. The Sunday slot will be occupied, at least opening weekend, by a newcomer in junior right-hander Dane Acker, a transfer from San Jacinto College. Sophomore right-handers Wyatt Olds (4.23 ERA, 31 relief appearances in 2019) and Ben Abram (6-4; 4.24; 13 starts in 2019) also are available.
"We've got a staff that I think is in the top one or two in the country," Cavalli said. "I mean, it's truly ridiculous just being around it every single day. We don't put a whole bunch of expectations on, 'Hey, you're going to (allow) this many hits this year and have this many strikeouts.' That's not really a worry to us. … That's why we talk about the process and that's really all it's about. The whole expectations thing, we don't really worry about it too much."
After transferring from Texas A&M to play for the Sooners last year, Ruffcorn opted to come back for his final season rather than turn pro after getting drafted in the 18th round by the Cincinnati Reds.
"What really sold me was how much of a family this team is and how everyone was accepting of me," Ruffcorn said of returning to OU. "From the moment I stepped foot on campus, I felt welcomed by the team and that's just something I've never really experienced before with baseball. So I bought in."
The Sooners led the Big 12 in fielding percentage (.984) last season, ranking 15th nationally, and remain solid defensively up the middle with the returns of Lindsly behind the plate, senior shortstop Brandon Zaragoza, senior second baseman Conor McKenna and junior center fielder Tanner Tredaway.
Also returning as starters are first baseman Tyler Hardman, left fielder Diego Muniz, right fielder Brady Harlan, plus designated hitter/backup catcher Justin Mitchell. Freshman Peyton Graham started both fall exhibition games and is a candidate to replace Brylie Ware at third base.
Cavalli hit .319 in 19 starts at designated hitter last season and led the Sooners with a .611 slugging percentage. This season, however, Cavalli will concentrate solely on pitching, a decision Johnson whole-heartedly accepted.
"I think he's got the mindset of whatever it takes for him to help this team win, he's going to do that," Johnson said of Cavalli, who also played first base as a freshman in 2018.
"We're young, collegiate athletes still trying to learn the game," Cavalli said. "Skip's been doing it for however long (28 collegiate seasons) and he'll tell you to your face that he still doesn't know everything about the game. So part of that transition and part of that growth is playing the game and learning from it. We can all learn from each other, we can all grow with each other."
Asked to describe the challenge of facing such an imposing pitching staff each practice, Zaragoza chuckled and said, "It's everything you probably imagine it would be. With a guy like Skip, he's kind of the guru of the pitching staff, so when he passes that knowledge down to these guys that we have, it's a nightmare.
"As an offense, we go up there and it's like, 'Hey, we're facing some of the (top) guys in the country at this point.' So it gives us an encouraging feel offensively to know when we start producing against these guys, this is what we'll be facing in the season. It's just an incredible opportunity that we have and a blessing to face some of these guys because they are as good as they are. It's just something that we love. We love that competition that we get to face every day."
The Sooners were picked fourth in the Big 12 preseason poll, trailing (in order) Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and TCU. Conference head coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams and four different teams received first-place votes.
"The Big 12 was the second-ranked conference in the country last year, and it should be outstanding again this season," Johnson said when the schedule was released. "We see the high level of competition around the league week-in and week-out, and these programs provide no opportunities for an off day in conference play."
As promising as the 2020 season looks as a whole for the Sooners, Johnson will be stressing a pitch-by-pitch process.
"You've got to have the guts to fail to succeed," Johnson said. "Even if you're at the plate, you've got to swing the bat and you've got to throw a strike to the target not knowing the outcome. But you've got to have conviction doing that. When you have conviction doing that, you give yourself a chance to succeed. You've got to learn how to deal with the outcome if you do fail."
Cavalli echoed Johnson and said, "If we've got conviction, we're going to succeed a lot of the time. Like we say all the time, 'We could go out there and probably throw batting practice and get six or seven outs.' It's just like hitters get themselves out a lot. I know that from past experience. I was a hitter and I got myself out a lot. Quite a bit."
OU opens the season this weekend against Virginia in Pensacola, Fla., and begins its home schedule Feb. 18-19 against Texas Southern at L. Dale Mitchell Park, followed by a four-game series against Illinois State Feb. 21-23.
The Sooners' challenging 56-game schedule features 26 games against nine opponents that reached the postseason in 2019, including College World Series participants Arkansas and Texas Tech, plus Super Regional qualifiers LSU and OSU.
Season tickets for home games are available at prices ranging from $180 to $300. For season ticket information, visit the OU Ticket Office website or call (405) 325-2424 or toll-free (800) 456-GoOU from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. (CT) Monday through Friday.
The Big 12 Baseball Championship will be held May 20-24 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City. The Sooners are looking for their 39th NCAA postseason appearance.
- The Sooners are ranked in several preseason polls – No. 16 by Perfect Game; No. 19 by Baseball America; No. 24 by D1Baseball, No. 24 by NCBWA and No. 30 in Collegiate Baseball's Top 40.
- OU returns eight of nine position starters, including three starting pitchers, plus six relief pitchers who made at least 19 appearances last season.
- Four Sooners were named to All-Big 12 Conference Preseason Team, the second-most of any team in the league, trailing only preseason favorite Texas Tech.
- This year's roster offers a mix of old and new with 14 core juniors and seniors who have been with the program at least one season, seven transfers (including a selection in the 2019 MLB Draft) and nine freshmen (with two draft selections).
- Junior right-hander Cade Cavalli was tabbed Big 12 Preseason Pitcher of the Year and a Third-Team All-American by Baseball America.
- Senior right-handed reliever Jason Ruffcorn was chosen as a Second-Team All-American by NCBWA and Third-Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball.
- Senior catcher Brady Lindsly and junior left-handed starter Levi Prater join Cavalli and Ruffcorn as All-Big 12 Preseason selections.
Lofty credentials come with lofty expectations, but that's not how Sooners coach Skip Johnson approaches this season.
"What we talk about most of all is the process," Johnson said. "You can be extremely good if you live in a process. If you deal in results in what the world sees and measures as results, I think (players) try too hard. This is a game of failure. It's going to be tough for them. Staying pitch-to-pitch and staying in the process, that's what we talk about more than anything because that's going to get them the furthest in their career."
Long respected as one of college baseball's premier pitching coaches, Johnson is in his third season as the Sooners' head coach and his fourth overall, having spent 2017 as pitching coach.
OU's team ERA has dwindled each year under Johnson's guidance. Last season's 3.92 team ERA marked only the seventh time the team ERA was under 4.00 since 1980 and the first time since 2015.
This year figures to be no different with Cavalli (5-3 record; 3.28 ERA; 12 starts) and Prater (7-4; 3.26; 14 starts) already etched in stone as the Friday and Saturday starters, respectively. The Sunday slot will be occupied, at least opening weekend, by a newcomer in junior right-hander Dane Acker, a transfer from San Jacinto College. Sophomore right-handers Wyatt Olds (4.23 ERA, 31 relief appearances in 2019) and Ben Abram (6-4; 4.24; 13 starts in 2019) also are available.
"We've got a staff that I think is in the top one or two in the country," Cavalli said. "I mean, it's truly ridiculous just being around it every single day. We don't put a whole bunch of expectations on, 'Hey, you're going to (allow) this many hits this year and have this many strikeouts.' That's not really a worry to us. … That's why we talk about the process and that's really all it's about. The whole expectations thing, we don't really worry about it too much."
After transferring from Texas A&M to play for the Sooners last year, Ruffcorn opted to come back for his final season rather than turn pro after getting drafted in the 18th round by the Cincinnati Reds.
"What really sold me was how much of a family this team is and how everyone was accepting of me," Ruffcorn said of returning to OU. "From the moment I stepped foot on campus, I felt welcomed by the team and that's just something I've never really experienced before with baseball. So I bought in."
The Sooners led the Big 12 in fielding percentage (.984) last season, ranking 15th nationally, and remain solid defensively up the middle with the returns of Lindsly behind the plate, senior shortstop Brandon Zaragoza, senior second baseman Conor McKenna and junior center fielder Tanner Tredaway.
Also returning as starters are first baseman Tyler Hardman, left fielder Diego Muniz, right fielder Brady Harlan, plus designated hitter/backup catcher Justin Mitchell. Freshman Peyton Graham started both fall exhibition games and is a candidate to replace Brylie Ware at third base.
Cavalli hit .319 in 19 starts at designated hitter last season and led the Sooners with a .611 slugging percentage. This season, however, Cavalli will concentrate solely on pitching, a decision Johnson whole-heartedly accepted.
"I think he's got the mindset of whatever it takes for him to help this team win, he's going to do that," Johnson said of Cavalli, who also played first base as a freshman in 2018.
"We're young, collegiate athletes still trying to learn the game," Cavalli said. "Skip's been doing it for however long (28 collegiate seasons) and he'll tell you to your face that he still doesn't know everything about the game. So part of that transition and part of that growth is playing the game and learning from it. We can all learn from each other, we can all grow with each other."
Asked to describe the challenge of facing such an imposing pitching staff each practice, Zaragoza chuckled and said, "It's everything you probably imagine it would be. With a guy like Skip, he's kind of the guru of the pitching staff, so when he passes that knowledge down to these guys that we have, it's a nightmare.
"As an offense, we go up there and it's like, 'Hey, we're facing some of the (top) guys in the country at this point.' So it gives us an encouraging feel offensively to know when we start producing against these guys, this is what we'll be facing in the season. It's just an incredible opportunity that we have and a blessing to face some of these guys because they are as good as they are. It's just something that we love. We love that competition that we get to face every day."
The Sooners were picked fourth in the Big 12 preseason poll, trailing (in order) Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and TCU. Conference head coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams and four different teams received first-place votes.
"The Big 12 was the second-ranked conference in the country last year, and it should be outstanding again this season," Johnson said when the schedule was released. "We see the high level of competition around the league week-in and week-out, and these programs provide no opportunities for an off day in conference play."
As promising as the 2020 season looks as a whole for the Sooners, Johnson will be stressing a pitch-by-pitch process.
"You've got to have the guts to fail to succeed," Johnson said. "Even if you're at the plate, you've got to swing the bat and you've got to throw a strike to the target not knowing the outcome. But you've got to have conviction doing that. When you have conviction doing that, you give yourself a chance to succeed. You've got to learn how to deal with the outcome if you do fail."
Cavalli echoed Johnson and said, "If we've got conviction, we're going to succeed a lot of the time. Like we say all the time, 'We could go out there and probably throw batting practice and get six or seven outs.' It's just like hitters get themselves out a lot. I know that from past experience. I was a hitter and I got myself out a lot. Quite a bit."
OU opens the season this weekend against Virginia in Pensacola, Fla., and begins its home schedule Feb. 18-19 against Texas Southern at L. Dale Mitchell Park, followed by a four-game series against Illinois State Feb. 21-23.
The Sooners' challenging 56-game schedule features 26 games against nine opponents that reached the postseason in 2019, including College World Series participants Arkansas and Texas Tech, plus Super Regional qualifiers LSU and OSU.
Season tickets for home games are available at prices ranging from $180 to $300. For season ticket information, visit the OU Ticket Office website or call (405) 325-2424 or toll-free (800) 456-GoOU from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. (CT) Monday through Friday.
The Big 12 Baseball Championship will be held May 20-24 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City. The Sooners are looking for their 39th NCAA postseason appearance.
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